This noodle dish is packed with so much flavor! The peanut sauce is sweet and slightly spicy. It’s made with ingredients commonly used in West African peanut sauce, but also includes soy sauce and rice vinegar. When mixed with pasta water the sauce thins out and coats the noodles beautifully. I like to serve this dish warm, but it’s also great cold or room temperature.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Active: | 55 min |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Kosher salt
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 cups chicken broth
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced
- 1/2 head savoy cabbage, roughly chopped
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro stems, plus cilantro leaves, for garnish
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 3 cloves garlic, grated
- 2 teaspoons sambal oelek
- 1/3 cup chopped peanuts
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- For the sauce: Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, carrot, celery, jalapeño, ginger, garlic, cumin and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine. Cook until the vegetables are slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to evenly coat the vegetables in the tomato paste. Add the peanut butter and stir to combine. As the peanut butter heats up it will melt into the sauce. Add the vinegar, soy sauce and chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and turn the heat down to low; simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and let cool slightly. Use an immersion blender to blend the sauce until completely smooth. Set aside until ready to use.
- To make the noodles: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta to al dente and reserve 1 cup pasta water before draining.
- Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil and swirl to coat the pan. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chicken and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the cabbage, onion, bell pepper and cilantro stems. Add 1/4 cup pasta water to deglaze the pan. Add the ginger, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the vegetables are slightly softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the sambal.
- Add the noodles to the pan with the vegetables along with 1/2 cup pasta water and 2 cups peanut sauce. Stir to coat the noodles in the sauce. Turn the heat off. Garnish with the cilantro leaves, chopped peanuts and sesame seeds.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 621 |
| Total Fat | 29 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 62 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Sugar | 10 g |
| Protein | 31 g |
| Cholesterol | 55 mg |
| Sodium | 733 mg |
Reviews
Next time I will reduce the peanut butter.
Absolutely delicious! Only change was adding an extra teaspoon of sambal oelek. Yum!
This was really good! My husband and son loved it. I halved the recipe since there’s only three of us. I added an extra spoonful of sambal oelek since the guys like spicy food. And it was easy to make since I used cole slaw mix for the cabbage.
Delicious! and you can use the extra peanut sauce for grilling chicken, or dipping
Delicious! It did take me a good 2 hours to do all the prep, make the sauce, cook the chicken and the noodles and then bring it all together but I’d say it was worth it. Makes a lot – probably 8 healthy servings!